Stuffing-box for gas-meters.



A. B. MORTON.

STUFFING BOX FOR GAS METERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1910.-

991,225, Patented May 2, 1911.

6' k W M il llllll:

J r. witnesses Ma 77? 5 W14 oz ALBERT-B. MORTON, OF WAKEFIELD,MASSACHUSETTS.

STUFFING-IBOX FOR GAS-METERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Application filed June 20, 1910. Serial No. 567,985.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. ALBERT B. MoR'roN, citizen of the United States,residing at lVakefield. in the county of Middlesex and State ofltlassachusetts, have invented certain'new and useful Improvements inStuffing-Boxes for Gas-Meters, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to stutfing-boxes for gas-meters, and its objectis to provlde va mercury sealed stuffing-box which will effectuallyprevent leakage of gas, and further, to provide a stufling-box sodesigned that it will retain the sealing medium while the meter is beinghandled, in transit, or 1n working position.

The invention also has for its object to establish a mercury seal ofsutiicient hei ht to hold back the gas pressure under whic it is desiredto operate the meter, and to take the place of, and be used as asubstitute for, all

other forms of stutling-box packing or seals in gas meters.

The invention consists in'a novel construction and arrangement ofpartsto be hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that the samemay be better understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawingforming a part of this specification, in which drawing, i

Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the stuffing-box, and Fig. 2is a horizontal section thereof taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, 5 denotes the partition or floor of the meter, and 6 isthe flag rod. The stuffing-box is a cylindrical casing 7 which issecured to the partition by a suitable gas tight connection. The flagrod passes through the partition and the stuffing-box. From the floor ofthe stuffing-box 7 rises a frusto-conical boss 8 having a centralopening which is continued through the bottom of the stufling-box, andthrough which opening the flag rod extends. The top of the bossterminates in a short cylindrical portion 9. The top of the stufiing-box7 is closed by a screw cap 10 having a frustoconical depending portion11 which extends into the stuffing box, and has a central opening. Theboss is surrounded by an inverted bell-shaped vessel 12, which isfrusto-conical in form to conform to the shape of the boss. The upperportion of the vessel has a short cylindrical portion 13, from thecenter of which rises a reduced cylindrical portion 14:,

which extends into the central opening of the screw cap 10, and has acentral opening through which the flag rod extends.

In assembling the herein described parts, a sufficient quantity ofmercury 15 to give the required seal is placed in the stuffing box 7,and the vessel 12 is'then slipped down over the flag rod until it is inthe/best working position, and also submerged as far as possible in themercury. The vessel 12 is made fast to the flag rod in such a manner asto make a gas-tight connection. The cap 10 is now screwed down, whichcompletes the assembly of the parts.

Inasmuch as the vessel moves with the flag rod, it is desirable that itbe loosely held between the cap and the top of the boss. The lower endof the cap is opposite a shoulder 16 on the vessel formed by the reducedportion 14. The part 14 is also loose in the con tral opening of thecap. The vessel is spaced slightly from the boss so that the sealingmedium may surround the latter. The flag rod passes loosely through thecentral opening of the boss. The mercury column will be of such a heightas to hold back the pressure under which the meter is to operate. Themercury willbe retained in any position that may result from operation,handling, transportation or storing of the meter, it being returned tosealing position when the meter is placed in proper working or operatingposition. Friction is reduced to a minimum, and remains constant at alltimes. The slight friction caused by the mercury will produce less lossof pressure between the inlet and outlet of the meter than that whichresults from the ordinary packing now in use. The seal can be made tohold against any reasonable pressure, and its effectiveness may beincreased by increasing the height of the stufling box, or the sealcontained therein. A further advantage of the invention is that iteliminates the tendency of the meter to run fast after it has been inservice for some time, since the friction is uniform at all times,whereas in the ordinary stufilng boxes, the most friction is presentimmediately after being packed (under which con dition they are provedand inspected). This friction gradually grows less from wear ofoperation, thus causing the center crank and flag rod to work morefreely, which results in the meter running fast, the percentage of Ierror being dependent entirely upon how hard the box was packed whenproved, and the severity of service to which the meter has beensubjected.

If the seal should break on account of excessive pressure, due toabnormal conditions,

conditions, the box will be almost sure to continue to leak until it hasbeen repaeked.

It will, of course, be understood that the parts as illustrated can bevaried within considerable limits, without departure from the spirit ofthe invention, and I do not, therefore, wish to be considered aslimiting myself to the specificdetails of construction, except wherethey are specifically referred to in the claim.

The invention is described as applied to the flag rod, but it will beevident that it may be used with equal facility in connection with thecrank rod of the meter, or any other parts requiring a stufling box.

I claim:

The combination with a stufling box, and a rod'passing therethrough; ofan inverted vessel in the box carried by the rod, said box containing aliquid sealing medium in which the vessel is sealed, and afrusto-eonieal boss in the box through which the rod loosely .passes,said boss extending into the vessel,

and the vessel being frusto-conieal to COI1" 'form to the shape of theboss.

In'testimony whereof I afiix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT B. MORTON.

